


A Winter's Sunrise

by Starlight_Adventurer



Series: Day and Night - A Family [2]
Category: Mother 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Brothers
Genre: A little something for the festive season
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 11:14:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17140742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starlight_Adventurer/pseuds/Starlight_Adventurer
Summary: ‘Twas the day before Christmas and every creature was stirring.The winter holiday was a time where heroes and villains set aside their badwill to celebrate together and make merry.Yet, one hero was confused and spent the time worrying.That was until the other smashers found out, but that’s when things got scary.





	A Winter's Sunrise

The chatter inside the main hall of the mansion seemed louder than usual to Lucas as he shuffled towards the children’s table, still half asleep. He sat quietly on his chair at the end of the long table. Many of the Lumas floating about waved at him which he returned sleepily. Lucas then turned his attention to the rest of kids who were talking loudly amongst themselves, Inkling Girl (lovingly nicknamed ‘Iggy’) was addressing the group with a determined smile, “I heard from a good source that we’re getting the tree today, so that means one thing…”

“Decorating,” Bowser Jr yelled as he slammed his fist onto the table. The aforementioned piece of furniture shook causing the cutlery and plates to shake with it.The rest of the group cheered making Lucas jump out of his sleepy stupor to look at them curiously. Ness laughed at the other’s actions and asked, “You okay there, Lu’?”

“Yeah…” Lucas muttered as he rubbed the last of the sleep from his eyes and grabbed a piece of toast from his plate. He thought for a second before continuing, “What are we decorating for?”

“Christmas!” Nana replied happily as she finished off her own breakfast. She was excited. This feeling was shared by the rest of the children who echoed her making Lucas tilt his head to the side quizzically. Ness frowned at his reaction then asked, “You do know what Christmas is, right?”

“No, should I?” Lucas asked innocently and munched slowly on his toast. The silence from the children made him glance over them. He flinched when he realised that they were all regarding him with the same surprised stare. Villager snapped out of his near trance to answer, “Heck yeah, you should. Christmas is the best!”

“The freshest!” Iggy agreed with a flourish of her arms.

“The most wonderful time of year!” Ness joined in with a knowing smirk. Some of the group giggled at him while others just smiled. Lucas just stared blankly at them, having already abandoned his breakfast. He sighed, “That doesn’t really clear anything up.”

Kirby, who had previously been gobbling down three times his own weight in food, decided to explain, “Poyo poyo, poyo poyo poyo. Poyo. Poyo poyo!”

“Santa? Tree? Presents?” Lucas asked as he translated his friend’s speech. The pink ball nodded in satisfaction. The young psychic nodded in response making everyone else look amongst themselves. He then questioned, “So an old man breaks into your house to either give you a dirty rock or presents based on an assessment he made of you from stalking you all year round?”

“Pretty much,” Toon Link shrugged.

“Why?” Lucas asked frantically. His distress was noticed by some of the adults on other tables who were now paying attention to their conversation. The blonde sunk in on himself under the attention.

“Because it’s Christmas,” Popo explained flatly, as if that phrase alone would calm the other. Lucas was about to speak again when another presence made itself known by sitting on his head. He relaxed when he realised it was the pale baby Luma making itself comfortable in his hair, messing it up considerably. The blonde sighed and slumped against his chair and ran a hand down his face, “But what is Christmas? What do you do? What is it for?”

“Well, that would be easier to show you,” Ness answered with another smirk.

\--- 

The group watched as many of the physically strong smashers dragged in a massive tree and placed it into a holder in the middle of the entrance. Everyone gathered for the event cheered when it stood by itself. The ones who had been dragging in the massive plant, mainly Bowser and DK, sighed in relief and found the nearest chair to sit in.

Various cardboard boxes were dragged out of their previous storage as people set about organising the decorations. Mario had taken charge of organising the large amount of people who had volunteered to help. The children were instructed to help with the tree which made them happy as they dragged Lucas along with them.

The blonde boy stared up at the large tree and asked, “Why a tree?”

“We decorate it,” TL replied as he dragged out a large piece of tinsel.

“But why a tree of all things?” Lucas re-clarified the question.

“The origins of the christmas tree in the form we know it now have often been traced back to Germany in Earth’s 16th century,” Shulk answered almost automatically as he inspected some of the ornaments. The children stared at him in wonder making him mutter, “What? I like to read about Earth culture. Only thing interesting to do around here besides train and experiment.”

“So do you know why we celebrate Christmas?” Lucas asked curiously. He helped a few of the Lumas as they made a paper chain out of coloured strips they had made earlier. The little stars were content with their uncoordinated decoration as they continued to make it longer and cover it with glitter and stickers.

“Oh! I know that one!” Luigi joined in as he brought over a ladder for them to use. He set it up and continued, “Christmas was originally a solely religious celebration but has developed into more of reminder of the importance of love and community.”

“And sharing!” Nana added as she jumped to place a plastic icicle of the tree.

“And spending time with the ones you care about!” Popo finished copying his sister.

“Okay, that sounds nice,” Lucas said with a smile. He focused on the tree again, “What about Santa Claus? How does he fit into it all?”

“Santa gives us presents!” Nana replied.

“Why?” He asked.

“Well, ‘Santa’ as you put it is based on a real person, St Nicholas, who was said to have done many miraculous things during his life, many of which involved helping those in need.” Shulk explained, “This idea grew after he died, his image was changed somewhat over the year into what we now know.”

“Which is?” Lucas questioned. The kids sighed at his naiveness.

\---

Lucas watched as the group of kids tried to describe ‘Santa Claus’ to him before admitting defeating. Iggy suggested they try drawing the famous mythical figure which they all agreed to. They had been drawing for about ten minutes when Ness called, “Okay! Time’s up!” There was a mixture of sighs and calls of agreement before the psychic replied, “I’ll go first.” He revealed a messily drawn man with a white beard and a red suit, the usual human depiction of Santa.

Most nodded at his drawing while Iggy yelled, “What?! That’s not Santa!”

“Yes it is!” Nana disagreed loudly.

The inkling shook her head before showing a drawing with a quick utterance, “This is Santa.” Her drawing was of a muscular looking humanoid jellyfish dressing in a patchwork of red and green. He was proudly hefting a sack of presents and giving them all of peace sign. Lucas glanced between the two pictures, everyone looking at him expectantly, and pointed to Iggy’s admitting, “I prefer that one.”

“No…” Ness whined as he slumped onto the floor dramatically. One of the Lumas accompanying the other psychic patted him on the head in a comforting gesture, joined closely by Kirby.

“Ha!” Iggy cheered as she pinned her drawing to a large cork board they had dragged in with them. It had a hastily made heading sign labelled, ‘Operation: ‘Tis the season for a reason’.

“Why would you betray me Lu’? I thought we were allies,” Ness complained in mock hurt, although it was mostly muffled by the floor.

“Iggy’s looks more likely to be able to break into someone’s house. That, and he probably exercises to work off all the cookie and milk he eats,” Lucas explained as he was manhandled into a highfive by the overexcited inkling. Ness sighed as he lay flatter on the floor.

“On to the next thing I guess…” Villager instructed as the others began to pack up. The psychic on the floor being mostly ignored.

\---

The kitchen of the mansion was warm and abuzz with noise as several people slithered and weaved around each other, hands/claws full of food. Bowser Jr waved at his father who was hunched over some cookies with Peach as they iced them to look like various items from their world. The young villain walked over to get a better view, barely tall enough to see over the counter, and asked, “Can we help?”

“I don’t see why not,” Peach smiled as she gestured for them all to come over and take her place before she moved away to help Olimar with some bread. The kids crowded alongside the counter while Bowser brought over a stool for his son. He spread out a bunch of decorating tools for them to reach before instructing, “You should all wash your hands.”

“Yes Dad,” Bowser Jr agreed in a whiny voice. Bowser laughed as the rest of the group followed his instructions and returned to their previous places, still excited to help. He handed them all a generic shaped cookie then explained, “You have to pipe of icing before you can stick anything down, but other than that it’s easy.”

The kids set about their task, making a mess as they went. Lucas was quietly humming as he made his look like a planet. The Lumas were creating other space objects with varying degrees of success. He smiled as they tried to show him their work before turning to the father and son duo who were creating edible versions of their army to ask, “How do you two usually celebrate Christmas?”

“Oh! It’s the best!” Bowser Jr cheered as he almost crushed the cookie he was holding. He set down the treat then went on explaining, “We get a massive tree and everyone gets a present. Then we all eat together at a large meal that the chefs work all morning to make.”

“How large is your army?” The blonde asked in slight concern.

“Close to three hundred all together,” Bowser answered with a smug grin. Lucas felt himself pale at the thought of having to cook for that many people, he really admired their cooking staff.

“Is it normal to have a meal at Christmas?” Lucas asked as he finished his work.

“It sure is.” Daisy replied as she hefted a large bag of potatoes onto her shoulder, “Best time for everyone to chat and exchange memories from throughout the year.”

“What about the present exchange?” He questioned.

“That’s mostly about giving each other things to show how much we care for one another,” the princess explained even as she began tilting to one side due to the large weight she was carrying. Bowser moved to help her when she began speaking again, “It’s also fun to give each other joke gifts. You should see what I got Mario this year.” Peach could be heard giggling at that from somewhere else in kitchen while Bowser shook his head at the pair.

“That also brings us to our next thing…” Ness commented making the group look at him. Lucas sighed at the sight of his friend covered in icing sugar and sprinkles.

\---

After they had cleaned themselves up, the group set up base in the main hall where the tables were being cleared to the sides of the room. Lucas spotted Rosalina helping organising the space and waved along with Luma companions. The small stars went to crowd their mother. 

Before the blonde could join them, Ness directed the group towards one of the empty tables and said, “Now for the last and best part of Christmas, the presents.” The rest of the group nodded prompting him to continue, “Since none of us have money right now, I’m sure. We’ll be finding presents from around the mansion to use in a secret santa.”

“What’s that?” Lucas asked quietly to Iggy as the other psychic began passing around slips of paper.

“Basically, you pull a name from a pile and you have to get that person a present without them knowing. Then tomorrow we’ll surprise each other by swapping them.” Iggy explained as she was handed her own piece of paper and wrote her name on it. She motioned for Lucas to do the same to his piece before taking it.

All of the paper was placed into Ness’s hat, which the other boy had been reluctant to remove. The hat was then slowly passed around until everyone had another person’s name. Lucas stared down at his, ‘Luma’. The blonde mentally sighed, which one? There were a lot of them and knowing them all as well as he did he knew they would each want something completely different.

Villager must have noticed his mood as he patted him on the back and encouraged, “Don’t worry. Just use everything we’ve taught you and find something with tons of Christmas spirit in it.”

\---

Lucas sank down into his bed for the night, dreading the next day. He had racked his brain for an idea of what generic thing to get whichever Luma he had drawn, but had come up with nothing special. He had ventured into a deep part of the mansion’s library to find a new bedtime story to read to the Lumas. He hoped it would count as enough of a gift for them.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a knock at the door. Lucas called for the person to come in and smiled when Rosalina walked in. She copied his smiled as she sat beside him of the bed and observed, “You’ve had a busy day. Shouldn’t you be asleep?”

“Can’t sleep…” Lucas muttered half into his mattress.

“And why’s that?” Rosalina asked in a soft voice. She watched as he shifted closer to her, still lying down, then patted his head in a comforting gesture.

“I don’t get Christmas,” the boy complained weakly. He was still so confused. The other children’s attempt at explaining the holiday had been exciting. He looked over at the now covered cork board they had given him at the end of the day. It was covered in their drawings of Santa, bits of decorations and sprinkles. A weird hodgepodge of everything they thought mattered at the holidays.

It was nice.

“Well…” Rosalina began, making Lucas looked up at her hopefully. She stared out the window at the darkening sky, “As with everything, it means different things to different people. You have to find what Christmas means to you, how you want to spend the holiday, which cannot come from anyone else but you.”

“How though?” Lucas huffed.

“That’s for you to figure out as well,” Rosalina replied with a small grin. She gave his head another gentle pat before standing up from her seat. She motioned for him to get under his covers, which he followed, before tucking him in. Rosalina smiled as she whispered, “Goodnight. May your dreams be peaceful.”

“‘Night…” Lucas muttered back as he fell asleep. The princess laughed silently as she exited his room to a crowd of waiting Lumas. Her children looked at her with a mix of expectation and worry. She shooed them away, still laughing, and whispered, “Everything is fine, there’s no need to worry.”

“Everything okay for tomorrow, Mama?” A green Luma asked as the others nodded in agreement.

“Of course it is, now off to bed little ones,” Rosalina answered as she gathered the group together and guided them to their room.

\---  
Christmas morning was greeted by a smash mansion full of sound. The noise almost made Lucas not want to leave his room. The choice to do so wasn’t left to him as his door was kicked in by the other kids. They grabbed him, giving him barely any time to grab his present for the Lumas, before dragging him down to the main hall. Everyone else was there waiting for them.

Lucas was dropped on the floor in a circle with the rest of the kids. Ness was the last to sit down as he dragged over his gift, the wrapping already tearing off the large object at the bottom. Villlager clapped his hands together to get everyone’s attention before announcing, “Okay everyone! Time to swap gifts!”

Lucas moved to find the Luma without his gift before he was crowded by all of the little stars at once. Close to a mountain of star bits was placed around him, near toppling onto the small boy. When they had finished the Lumas dispersed so everyone could see the young blonde struggle to move in his present.

Everyone laughed at his predicament. 

Lucas sighed when he couldn’t move at all under the star bits and resigned himself to having to be dug out. He did smile, however, as one more was place on the pile by the youngest Luma. It settled itself at the edge of the pile before looking up at him and cheering, “Christmas!”

The other Lumas echoed its word. Lucas sighed again at their antics until he couldn’t help but smile and laugh at their good intentions. He pulled out his own gift, slightly worse for wear now, and placed it in front of the baby Luma as he said, “Merry Christmas.”

The others in the hall watched as the small star began to slowly pull the paper off the book, having some help from the blonde psychic. The Lumas cheered at the prospect of a new bedtime story. They even went as far to ask for it to be read then and there. Lucas agreed after some light pleading, some of which came from the other kids, and started the story.

A quiet fell over the room as he read. Everyone enjoying the sweet scene playing out in front of them. Rosalina watched her children enjoy their gift. Peach came up beside her with a smile and whispered, “This your idea?”

“From what Lucas has told me of his home, I suspected he did not celebrate Christmas. So, I may have suggested something to the children in the previous weeks, Rosalina admitted with a small smile.

“Well, I suppose it worked out,” Peach replied as she matched her knowing smile.

“Yes, I suppose it did.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all have a wonderful festive season, no matter what you celebrate (if you're celebrating at all)!


End file.
